By Mai Nguyen
Oct 29 (Reuters) – London copper prices were on track for their biggest monthly gain since April as low exchange inventories offset fears of weaker demand due to a power crisis in Asia and Europe and tumbling coal prices.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 fell 0.4% to $9,628 a tonne by 0632 GMT on Friday. However, it was up 7.7% for the month.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 rose 0.4% to 70,640 yuan ($11,053.39) a tonne, also on track for a monthly gain.
Copper prices rose earlier in October to as high as $10,452.50 a tonne in London and 76,490 yuan a tonne in Shanghai, flirting with their record highs as inventories in exchange warehouses dropped to multi-year lows.
ShFE copper inventories CU-STX-SGH were last at 39,839 tonnes, a level unseen since June 2009, while on-warrant LME stockpiles MCUSTX-TOTAL hit their lowest since 1998 earlier in the month.
Copper and other base metals have been dragged down by falling coal prices in recent sessions, amid easing worries about supply disruptions and trading limits.
Results from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates next week would give more cues for copper prices, which are likely to be volatile with downside risks, brokerage firm Huatai Futures said in a report.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Money managers were net long copper on COMEX 3085692MNET to the tune of 54,030 contracts, as of Oct. 19, latest exchange data showed, the highest since May 11, when prices of the metal hit their historic highs.
* LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 1.4% to $2,708 a tonne but was set for its first monthly decline since January, dragged down by tumbling coal prices. ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 rose 0.5% to 19,810 yuan a tonne.
* LME lead CMPB3 fell 1.3% to $2,391 a tonne, but was set for its biggest monthly gain since January 2017, and ShFE lead SPBcv1 advanced 0.1% to 15,720 yuan a tonne.
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($1 = 6.3908 yuan)
(Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Vinay Dwivedi)
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